Geremin
Geremin was a legendary Sidhe of House Beaumayn. Overview The Crusades Duke Geremin was a popular leader at the the of the First Crusade. Unlike many members of House Beaumayn, he was charismatic and outgoing as well as a brave warrior, passionate lover, and cunning courtier all at once. During the Crusade, he fell in love with Zubaidah, an Eshu princess. Their love was cut short, though, with a Cold Iron blade and the duke went mad with grief after her death, descending into deep depression and uttering horrible prophecies to any who would listen, until one night when he simply disappeared. Accusations of a murderous conspiracy began to circulate in his absence and the eshu caliphate had no choice but to heed the will of their subjects and declare war on the Beaumayn host in their midst, leaving only a few survivors to return with the tale. The Return Two hundred years later, Geremin reappeared in the household of two sidhe brothers, Brandell and Markesh, the highest lords of the house at the time. Brendell was the elder and Markesh the younger. Swearing them to secrecy, he told the brothers his tale. Consumed by grief, he had wandered until he finally found himself at the edge of a strange realm, a grey trail winding through a silver forest, where a blinding light as if from a rising sun came through the trees. While he watched, Zubaidah came out of the light, smiling broadly. After a moment it became obvious that neither could cross the threshold of that land, and the duke pleaded with her to explain what had happened, how she had escaped the iron's curse. In reply, she told him that iron is not the end of faerie souls; as the essence of everything the fae oppose, it burns away the impurities they acquire in their contact with the human world, leaving only their true faerie nature behind to begin a new journey. She told him that he must find the Iron Road, the path she traveled to reach that forest, and guard it, for it is the one way that will always offer true passage to that realm. Second, she said that as its painfulness increases, fewer would take the iron willingly, so he was to gather those of his line who were worthy and train them in special rites so that they would be able to show others the way and give the worthy the release of paradise. The duke told the brothers that they must not speak of this to anyone not of House Beaumayn for, as with all the futures they speak of, none would believe us until it came to pass, and in the meantime the house would be hunted and abused. If his instructions were not undertaken, he warned, the Dreaming would continue to wither and weaken until there came a time when a dark star shone in the sky. Under its light, the Fomorians would rise from the depths of the Dreaming once again, send the host of the Thallain before them, and sweep the Kithain from the Earth and into the chill oblivion of Winter. So saying, he pulled a cold iron knife and killed himself, a contented smile on his face. The Brother's War The story doesn't end there either. The two brothers immediately began to rage over what Geremin had told them. Markesh held that it was all in keeping with the increasingly dark nature of the visions that house members were receiving, and that it was a matter of blood loyalty that they should carry out a hero's last request. Brandell was suspicious of such a neat tale of paradise and believed that sinister forces were trying to manipulate their visionary gifts into bringing disaster on the Dreaming. Before long, the argument fell into outright hostility as each tried to convince the other of the rightness of his actions, and soon the house was split into two factions. Both sides were still bound by their vow of secrecy from revealing the heresy to those outside the house, however, and so they began a shadow war instead, pitting kin against kin in a struggle that lasted unto the time of the Shattering. For more information on what followed, see the larger article House Beaumayn. References # CTD. Book of Lost Houses: The Second Coming, pp. 16-17. Category:Sidhe (CTD) Category:Seelie (CTD) Category:Legendary Fae (CTD) Category:House Beaumayn (CTD)